--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I met Mel [Brooks] backstage in Anne's…" description: "\"I met Mel [Brooks] backstage in Anne's [Bancroft] dressing room. He was wearing one of those pea coats, pea jackets that were made famous by the Mercha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png" --- # I met Mel \[Brooks\] backstage in Anne's \[Bancroft\] dressing… ![“I met Mel [Brooks] backstage in Anne's [Bancroft] dressing room. He was wearing one of those pea coats, pea jackets that were made famous by the Merchant Marines, and I admired it and he said, "You know, they used to call this a urine jacket, but it didn't sell."” quote by Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png) > “I met Mel \[Brooks\] backstage in Anne's \[Bancroft\] dressing room. He was wearing one of those pea coats, pea jackets that were made famous by the Merchant Marines, and I admired it and he said, "You know, they used to call this a urine jacket, but it didn't sell."” [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He recounts meeting Mel Brooks backstage, noting Brooks’s coat and its nickname “urine jacket.” **In simple terms:** He shares a humorous anecdote about Mel Brooks’s coat. Key Takeaway Notice quirky details in encounters. Themes humor anecdote fashion Mood lighthearted nostalgic Type entertaining historical When to use this quote - film sets - costume design - storytelling Key Concepts industry lore personal interaction Questions to Reflect On - What makes a backstage story memorable? - How do such details shape our view of colleagues? A Different Perspective The story may be misremembered or exaggerated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dressing room](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dressing-room/) [Merchant marine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/merchant-marine/) ## Related quotes > [ I was miscast in that production \[of Mother Courage and Her Children\] ... but it was with Anne Bancroft, whose boyfriend at the time… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-was-miscast-in-that-production-of-mother-courage-and-her-children/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [When people, especially from France, would ask me to talk about or so they could write about New York Jewish humor, I'd say I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/when-people-especially-from-france-would-ask-me-to-talk-about-or-so/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [ \[ Zero Mostel\] would tell anyone anything, not to be impolite, but he'd show that he wasn't at all afraid of however much money… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/zero-mostel-would-tell-anyone-anything-not-to-be-impolite-but-he-d/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I certainly didn't have New York Jewish humor. But I was in three Mel Brooks films so people thought I was a connoisseur of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-certainly-didn-t-have-new-york-jewish-humor-but-i-was-in-three-mel/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [ And Mel \[Brooks\] - you have to understand this important point - he had done "The Producers" for $50,000 over two years, and he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/and-mel-brooks-you-have-to-understand-this-important-point-he-had/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [Mel Brooks is one of the few authentic geniuses working in comedy in America today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/mel-brooks-is-one-of-the-few-authentic-geniuses-working-in-comedy-in/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [ With Mel \[Brooks\], only one time and that was later on during "Young Frankenstein" - never with Zero \[Mostel\] and never with Mel except… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/with-mel-brooks-only-one-time-and-that-was-later-on-during-young/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [What I learned from Mel Brooks was audacity - in performance as in life. Maybe you go too far, but try it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/what-i-learned-from-mel-brooks-was-audacity-in-performance-as-in-life/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [“(Without the merchant marine, there is no Walmart.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-phillips/without-the-merchant-marine-there-is-no-walmart/) [Richard Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-phillips/) > [“Not simply wanting compensation for destroyed American vessels, he added a still more explosive demand: that Britain pay a staggering $2 billion in indirect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/not-simply-wanting-compensation-for-destroyed-american-vessels-he/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“Farrell Lines was a concept envisioned by James A. Farrell Sr., the son of a ship’s captain and the president of the United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/farrell-lines-was-a-concept-envisioned-by-james-a-farrell-sr-the-son/) Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One > [I was arrested 1965. I had come back from the merchant marines, got into conversations about the war. I had never heard of Vietnam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-arrested-1965-i-had-come-back-from-the-merchant-marines-got/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [“If I survived at all, it would be a triumph. If I swam, it would be a miracle. As I unlocked my door, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-i-survived-at-all-it-would-be-a-triumph-if-i-swam-it-would-be-a/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“Eight Bells: Robert J. Kane ‘55D died June 3, 2017, in Palm Harbor, Florida. He came to MMA by way of Boston College. Bob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/eight-bells-robert-j-kane-55d-died-june-3-2017-in-palm-harbor-florida/) [Captain Hank Bracker, The Exciting Story of Cuba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-the-exciting-story-of-cuba/) > [Because I had worked the river boats some summers, pushing as far as New Orleans, I joined the Merchant Marine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-walker/because-i-had-worked-the-river-boats-some-summers-pushing-as-far-as/) [Clint Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-walker/) ## More by Gene Wilder > [Dont put the sheep on the table.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/dont-put-the-sheep-on-the-table/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [When your mother gives you confidence about anything that you do, you carry that confidence with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/when-your-mother-gives-you-confidence-about-anything-that-you-do-you/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I'm an actor, not a clown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-m-an-actor-not-a-clown/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [ \[Gilda Radner\] died in '89, and I got non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2000. I've just passed the five-year mark and I'm now what you call… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/gilda-radner-died-in-89-and-i-got-non-hodgkin-s-lymphoma-in-2000-i-ve/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I like - it's not that I want to be someone different from me, but I suppose it partly is that. I love creating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-like-it-s-not-that-i-want-to-be-someone-different-from-me-but-i/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I live in a small town in Connecticut, and they don't write scripts there, but I get them anyway because my agent is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-live-in-a-small-town-in-connecticut-and-they-don-t-write-scripts/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/little-surprises-around-every-corner-but-nothing-dangerous/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I don't like giving speeches. It makes me nervous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-don-t-like-giving-speeches-it-makes-me-nervous/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [On screen, Gene Wilder could often be summed up as an accident waiting to happen, that frizzy, flyaway hair, the eyes darting this way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/on-screen-gene-wilder-could-often-be-summed-up-as-an-accident-waiting/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [Gene Wilder often said that his job as an actor wasn't to make something funny but to make it real.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/gene-wilder-often-said-that-his-job-as-an-actor-wasn-t-to-make/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [When I'm not working on something, I seem to go through periods of depression. It helps to keep busy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/when-i-m-not-working-on-something-i-seem-to-go-through-periods-of/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [What I learned from Mel Brooks was audacity - in performance as in life. Maybe you go too far, but try it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/what-i-learned-from-mel-brooks-was-audacity-in-performance-as-in-life/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I'm going to tell you what my religion is. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Period. Terminato. Finito.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-m-going-to-tell-you-what-my-religion-is-do-unto-others-as-you-would/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [Gene Wilder characters wanted to be calm, but to the great delight of audiences, they rarely succeeded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/gene-wilder-characters-wanted-to-be-calm-but-to-the-great-delight-of/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) > [I love acting, especially if it's a fantasy of some kind, where it's not just realistic, it's not naturalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-love-acting-especially-if-it-s-a-fantasy-of-some-kind-where-it-s/) [Gene Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) [Explore all 119 Gene Wilder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wilder/) ## More Brooks quotes > [I was a full time student either at Stony Brook or NYU getting my masters degree. After I graduated with my masters I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-algieri/i-was-a-full-time-student-either-at-stony-brook-or-nyu-getting-my/) [Chris Algieri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-algieri/) > [Oh for a seat in some poetic nook, Just hid with trees and sparkling with a brook!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-hunt/oh-for-a-seat-in-some-poetic-nook-just-hid-with-trees-and-sparkling/) [Leigh Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-hunt/) > [I'm a working-class former apprentice electrician; at the age of 14, if you'd told me I would one day be standing on a stage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gordon-sinclair/i-m-a-working-class-former-apprentice-electrician-at-the-age-of-14-if/) [John Gordon Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gordon-sinclair/) > [And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/and-this-our-life-exempt-from-public-haunt-finds-tongues-in-trees/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Narrative should flow as flows the brook down through the hills and the leafy woodlands...a brook that never goes straight for a minute, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/narrative-should-flow-as-flows-the-brook-down-through-the-hills-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I've played with the best drummers in rock, ranging from Josh Freese to Brooks Wackerman to even Dave Lombardo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-trujillo/i-ve-played-with-the-best-drummers-in-rock-ranging-from-josh-freese/) [Robert Trujillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-trujillo/) > [There are natures that go to the streams of life in great cities as the hart goes to the water brooks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gilbert-hamerton/there-are-natures-that-go-to-the-streams-of-life-in-great-cities-as/) [Philip Gilbert Hamerton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gilbert-hamerton/) > [I never stepped foot into a Brooks Brothers before 'Mad Men.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-staton/i-never-stepped-foot-into-a-brooks-brothers-before-mad-men/) [Aaron Staton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-staton/) > [The audience. They see the name Mel Brooks, they want something really funny. They don't want to be moved; they don't want to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-brooks/the-audience-they-see-the-name-mel-brooks-they-want-something-really/) [Mel Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-brooks/) > [Instead of a river, God often gives us a brook, which may be running today and dried up tomorrow. Why? To teach us not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/instead-of-a-river-god-often-gives-us-a-brook-which-may-be-running/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“Take care of Katy, Dani. Keep her safe and love her forever. Make sure Brooks never takes her for granted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-foor/take-care-of-katy-dani-keep-her-safe-and-love-her-forever-make-sure/) [Jennifer Foor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-foor/) > [They wanted me to play third like Brooks so I did play like Brooks - Mel Brooks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-van-slyke/they-wanted-me-to-play-third-like-brooks-so-i-did-play-like-brooks/) [Andy Van Slyke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-van-slyke/) > [Many can brook the weather that love not the wind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/many-can-brook-the-weather-that-love-not-the-wind/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [ \[T\]he dignity of parliament it seems can brook no opposition to it's power. Strange that a set of men who have made sale of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/t-he-dignity-of-parliament-it-seems-can-brook-no-opposition-to-it-s/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Hark, I hear a robin calling! List, the wind is from the south! And the orchard-bloom is falling Sweet as kisses on the mouth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/hark-i-hear-a-robin-calling-list-the-wind-is-from-the-south-and-the/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) Browse all 356 Brooks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I met Mel [Brooks] backstage in Anne's [Bancroft] dressing room. He was wearing one of those pea coats, pea jackets that were made famous by the Merchant Marines, and I admired it and he said, \"You know, they used to call this a urine jacket, but it didn't sell.\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gene Wilder" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-bancroft-dressing-room-he-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brooks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wilder/i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-bancroft-dressing-room-he-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c6/gene-wilder-3914_brooks_i-met-mel-brooks-backstage-in-anne-s-ban_2497273.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I met Mel [Brooks] backstage in Anne's [Bancroft] dressing room. 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